Thread by @pbstorms

Chinese Prison
1.5 yrs of hell then worse hell
Australian is arrested in China for selling weed
My brother’s story
Pt. 1 of 30. Ready?

#China #Beijing #Oliver @AusEmbChina @StephenMcDonell @Lingling_Wei @cdcshepherd @schorselysees @YewLunTian @vwang3 @lizalinwsj @lizalinwsj

2.

It's a nightmare to receive a call that someone you love has been arrested. In China, you don’t get that call. The person arrested also gets no phone call. Worse than knowing your brother is in prison is not knowing.

#China #Beijing #Oliver @AusEmbChina

3.

where he is, what his condition is, what the charges are, how long he will be there, or if he is alive. The only way you know what happened; he sent 1 WeChat message to his friend before the cops took his phone “Arrested. Get my dog.”

#China #Beijing #Oliver @AusEmbChina

@AusEmbChina 4.

June 4 2021, Oli’s friend called me on WeChat. When I saw his name, I knew something was wrong. “Oli is in jail”. I slid to the floor and sat in shock as he told me about the message and how he got the dog out of the apartment.

#China #Beijing #Oliver @AusEmbChina

@AusEmbChina 5.

Oli loved China. He visited me in Beijing in 2001. After that, he went back to Australia, enrolled in a TAFE diploma course for early childhood development. He knew he wanted to be a teacher and he would become a great one.

#China #Beijing #Oliver @AusEmbChina

@AusEmbChina 6.

After finishing school, he got a job at a Chinese kindergarten. From that moment, Beijing was home. He lived in Beijing his whole adult life, he spent 6 years at a prestigious international school as a lower-primary homeroom teacher.

#China #Beijing #Oliver @AusEmbChina

@AusEmbChina 7.

Oli studied ballet, tap, jazz, drama, and more at @BrentStreet1 performing arts school in Sydney, he starred in several commercials and had a regular part on Aussie soap, @homeandaway he was always passionate. Oli also smoked weed.

#China #Beijing #Oliver @AusEmbChina

@AusEmbChina @BrentStreet1 @homeandaway 8.

Weed. Legal in much of the world - illegal in China. He knew this, he chose to break the law. Oli rarely partied or went to bars. A bit of a loner, preferring to stay home with his dog and play video games. Cannabis was his outlet.

#China #Beijing #Oliver @AusEmbChina

@AusEmbChina @BrentStreet1 @homeandaway 9.

Expats in China knew the deal, when you were arrested, you would be detained for 15 days then deported. We saw it happen with visa overstayers, those working unauthorized side-gigs, with the occasional arrest for marjuana.

#China #Beijing #Oliver @AusEmbChina

@AusEmbChina @BrentStreet1 @homeandaway 10.

For drugs: cops will take your phone and force you to send messages to all contacts asking about drugs. This common snitch scenario is a quick way out of jail. Give the cops 10 contacts who also do drugs, and you get to walk free.

#China #Beijing #Oliver @AusEmbChina

@AusEmbChina @BrentStreet1 @homeandaway 11.

June 4 2021 Oli got a WeChat message from a friend, an older Israli guy who also smoked weed. #DrorKohn was a reputable guy, CEO of #Avanta aeronautical and security company in Beijing connected to the Chinese military.

#China #Beijing #Oliver @AusEmbChina

12.

#DrorKohn was a family man. Oli trusted him. Dror asked Oli to get him some weed. Oli refused. Dror asked again and again, finally Oli told him that if he came to his neighbourhood, he could give him some of his own personal supply

#China #Beijing #Oliver @AusEmbChina

@AusEmbChina 13.

They met outside. The bag went from Oli’s hand to Dror’s, Oli was tackled by police. It was a set-up. #DrorKohn was free to go. His life goes on to this day, uninterrupted by his brush with the police because he set up my brother.

#China #Beijing #Oliver @AusEmbChina

@AusEmbChina 14.

Oli was let out of jail a few days after the coz he had an injury from a scooter accident that needed regular medical attention from Oli’s surgeon. The doctor vouched for Oli. He was put on city-arrest. Not allowed to leave Beijing.

#China #Beijing #Oliver @AusEmbChina

@AusEmbChina 15.

They canceled his work permit - put him on a T Visa. No job. Forbidden to leave China. No
info. No idea how long it would go on. No income. Stuck indefinitely. It lasted for 479 days. He was not told a thing. “investigation pending”

#China #Beijing #Oliver @AusEmbChina

@AusEmbChina 16.

Aust Embassy Beijing did nothing. They never saw Oli in person in all that time despite begging for help. It was covid. Borders were shut. Still are. I told them Oli was having mental and physical health issues. They would not help.

#China #Beijing #Oliver @AusEmbChina

17.

Australian Embassy would not help him get medical assistance, legal, housing assistance, relocation assistance. The only thing they ever did in 1.5 years was send him WeChat messages telling him that his sister was worried about him.

#China #Beijing #Oliver @AusEmbChina

18.

1.5 years of no info. Cops told Oli often to go to the station to check in. He always did. One day, they took his phone - refused him food or water. Locked him in a cell for 14 hours. Then forced him to sign documents all in Chinese.

#China #Beijing #Oliver @AusEmbChina

@AusEmbChina 19.

They refused to let him use his phone, refused him a translator. Mentally unwell, feeling abandoned, dehydrated, starving, worried about his dog. He was told to sign and he could go home. He signed. We still don’t know what it was.

#China #Beijing #Oliver @AusEmbChina

@AusEmbChina 20.

I told the Aust Embassy this happened. They refused to look into it and find out what he signed. They only sporadically answered my emails even though Oli signed a document giving them permission for me to receive all info about him.

#China #Beijing #Oliver @AusEmbChina

@AusEmbChina 21.

Sep 26 2022. Mum calls. Oli was doing a check in. Phone is out of service. She is scared. I contact Oli’s friend. He confirms Oli is not home. He takes the dog for the night.

No one has heard from Oli since. It has been 30 days.

#China #Beijing #Oliver @AusEmbChina

22.

The Embassy has NOT done a welfare check.
Standard practice and human rights (even in China) that the embassy be given access to a prisoner. They don’t even know where he is after he was moved from the detention center.

#China #Beijing #Oliver @AusEmbChina

@AusEmbChina 23.

To make everything worse. The embassy suddenly told me they would no longer give me any information (after 1.5 years of giving me information) and told me they could only communicate with Oli’s “next of kin” . I assumed he died.

#China #Beijing #Oliver @AusEmbChina

@AusEmbChina 24.

I told them that my mother is geographically and technologically isolated. No computer, 12 hours drive from Brisbane Australia. In the outback. Unable to help. She is 70. She has cancer and emphysema. She cannot deal with this.

#China #Beijing #Oliver @AusEmbChina

@AusEmbChina 25.

The embassy told me they don’t care. They will not talk to me from now on. They stopped answering my emails. Again … I assume my brother is dead. The sudden change in tone. The new vocabulary. I am scared.

#China #Beijing #Oliver @AusEmbChina

@AusEmbChina 26.

30 days in prison. No idea where. No one has spoken directly to Oliver. Oli needs money in a Chinese prison for necessities. The embassy has failed to get that to him. Despite sending us a form demanding AUD$376

#China #Beijing #Oliver @AusEmbChina

@AusEmbChina 27.

AUD$376 to put in Oli’s account IF THEY EVER FIND HIM. $76 of that money is the embassy’s fee. They are profiting off us. We have cash in China. They won’t let us get that to him. They still only talk to my unsound mother.

#China #Beijing #Oliver @AusEmbChina

28.

I don’t know if my brother is alive or killed in Chinese prison. Beaten by cops? Why are they refusing the embassy access? Why the embassy aren't trying to see him? Why wont the embassy share information to a grieving family.

#China #Beijing #Oliver @AusEmbChina

29.

If you have read all this and still feel the need to comment “well, he shouldn't have broken the law”. Please do fuck right off. We don’t need to hear that. We know that. If you can help in any way. Contact me.

#China #Beijing #Oliver @AusEmbChina

@AusEmbChina 30.

Aust Embassy: You are cruel, vile, & soulless. The treatment we received is disgusting. Consular people told my mother to “watch her tone” and threatened to cut off communication with her when she was just scared and panicking.

#China #Beijing #Oliver @AusEmbChina

31.

Just to add: I have point blank asked if my brother is dead twice now. They refuse to answer. They have emailed me other replies. They just won’t tell me if he is alive.

It’s a really sick game the @AusEmbChina people are playing with me.

32.

Happier times. My brother loved teaching. He is my opposite: chill, kind, friendly, lovable, easy going, a good listener, selfless. He would give you his last dollar. His kids adored him. Everyone loved him. Effortlessly.